Midnight Flight
by Ekobean
Summary: A chronicling of one of Rioichi Cooper's (Sly's ancestor who made the Ninja Spire Jump) adventures. Chapter Eight is UP! Rated for some graphic violence. Hope you like it. R&R Completed!
1. Entrance

Ekobean: Ok, I mostly like doing Jak fics, but I thought I'd try my hand at a Sly Cooper fic. Tell me what u think.

_Midnight Flight Chapter 1_

The raccoon could see several lights turning about, guarding the _daimyo's_ palace. Fifty feet above the ground all of them seemed to be stars upon the ground. The raccoon knew that one slip-up here would mean certain doom for him, and the Cooper legacy would end tragically.

There was no way to enter from the bottom, the raccoon knew this. There was only one way in, and the Cooper was standing in front of it. A thin cable leading from this building to the sixth level of the _daimyo's _nine-level palace. It would only figure that _daimyo _Shin Masaiya would be at the very top of a ninety-foot palace.

It was now time to test his new ability, the one he had perfected merely a day ago. The Ninja Spire Jump.

Every ten feet on the cable was a burning oil lamp. The raccoon could smell the fumes rising from them. Floating almost lazily upon the tops of the lamps were the sparkling blue auras that marked for a Master Thief any thieving opportunity. This proved to the raccoon that his Spire Jump was possible. Yet even as he launched himself upon the first of the lamps, he felt his stomach turn as he shakily landed upon the top.

The cable wiggled dangerously, shaking the oil lamps ever so slightly. But even this would be enough to alert the guards below. The raccoon crouched, wrapping himself in his black Ninja cloak. Hopefully he would appear to be nothing more than a part of the night sky. The guards' lights below halted for a moment. He could see their silhouettes looking upward for any intruder. After about a minute they continued their patrol unhindered.

The raccoon sighed with relief and quickly Spire Jumped from one lamp to the other. After five minutes of non-stop Spire Jumping he reached safety on the balcony of a locked window. In one fluid motion he vaulted over the cedar railing and ran to the locked windows. A large golden lock was placed upon the latch.

The raccoon snorted and drew his dual canes. Both had been in his family all the way back to the stone age. True they had been perfected, smoothed out, and improved. But they were still fashioned by cave men. The handles were of polished rock, and the "blades" an even more carefully polished gold. The flickering flames of the Japanese oil lamps behind him were reflected upon the polished gold. The raccoon quickly angled his body so that the gold blades were in his shadow. Even the slightest reflection could set off an alert in such a tightly guarded area.

He walked up to the lock and strung the blades around the bolt of the lock, and in one swift pull on both canes, broke it. He entered silently, landing catlike upon the clean rug of the bed chamber he found himself in. From here on, Rioichi Cooper knew that he was in the claws of his enemy.


	2. Infiltration

Ekobean: Alright, here's chapter two.

Midnight Flight chapter 2 

Rioichi crept stealthily across the expanse of the room. There didn't appear to be any people here except for himself. But he knew not always to trust what you see. His ears were tuned in sharply to anything that did not sound right, such as a creak of a loose floorboard or the breathing of an alien lung.

Rioichi reached the thick wooden door on the other side of the room and halted. He made one final quick sweep of the dark room to make sure no one was sneaking up on him, and then opened the door, slipped through the small crack and shut it quietly. He found himself in an expansive hallway. Three small lanterns hung limply from the ceiling, illuminating a doorway on the right. Rioichi could just make out a staircase heading upward.

Rioichi pressed himself up against the wall and edged slowly to the rim of the staircase. The stairs were old and made of knotted wood. They would undoubtedly creak as he made his way upward. Frustrated, Rioichi scanned the hallway for any alternate route. Just then an idea sprung to his head. The staircase was roughly three feet across, and if he was careful he could probably shimmy up to the top.

The raccoon thief turned around the corner and pressed his back up against the wall, and then carefully began to walk up the wall on the other side. His teeth were grinding together, his muscles beginning to ache. He continued to walk slowly at an angle up the stairway.

One thing drove Rioichi to get to the _daimyo._ Rioichi had stolen many things in his short life. Gold, jewels, and valuable artifacts, he had taken them all. But just two days ago the _daimyo _had had the nerve to find his hideout and break in. If the _daimyo_ had stolen anything else, Rioichi could have replaced it. Any of the gold, silver, jewels or artifacts that decorated his walls would have been no major loss. But the _daimyo _had taken one thing that threw Rioichi into a fit of rage. Shin Masaiya had taken the Thievius Raccoonus.

The ancient book that had been passed down the Cooper line for generations, that told every secret technique that the Coopers had ever made was now in the hands of the _daimyo._ And that was too much.

Finally Rioichi reached the top of the stairway. Carefully keeping himself safely perched on the wall with one leg, Rioichi lowered his other and carefully applied pressure to the top step. It made the slightest creak, but that would have to do. Rioichi abandoned his perch and leapt nimbly to the start of the next stairway.

Much to the raccoon's relief there was a railing wound artfully along the side. A slim string of blue auras danced mirthfully about the railing. Not wasting a second, the raccoon leapt up and balanced skillfully upon the rail. Rioichi slowly crawled upward, not daring to make a sound. He was blind to what lay at the top of the stairs, and any alien sound would rouse suspicion. A minute passed, and Rioichi reached the top of the stairs. He cautiously peered around the corner and immediately snapped his head back behind the wall.

A guard was standing just three feet from the stairway. Rioichi timidly dared to peer around again. The guard (a large mongoose) had it's furry back to the stairs. Upon closer inspection, Rioichi found that the guard was regularly tipping, shifting his weight from one foot to another. "He's half asleep," Rioichi murmured.

Again he wrapped his cloak about himself and stepped off of the railing. Immediately he crouched, making himself as short as possible. Ever so cautiously he crept towards the reeling guard until he stood a foot behind him. He could hear the guard's soft breathing.

Rioichi peered around the guard to make sure there was no other comrades in front of him, and finding that luck was with him, Rioichi leapt up and clonked the guard over the head with the blunt ends of his canes. The guard gave a startled gasp and fell to his knees.

Rioichi bent down and scooped up a small pouch of gold hanging at the guard's belt, stuck it into his backpack, and then moved on.

There was a door not short from the guard's post. As before, Rioichi opened the door and peered inside, and then slipped unnoticed into the next room. What he found was not to his liking. An enormous room lay before him. Rioichi was standing on a small wooden platform that was only about ten feet off the floor. But from this vantage point he could see that the room was like one gigantic maze.

Uncountable twists and turns and dead ends were set up everywhere. If that were not enough, roughly fifteen guards all sporting dual katanas and search lights prowled around almost every corner. He could plainly see another door on the other side of the maze. Rioichi shook his head and moaned. "He is expecting me."

He should have known from the beginning. The _daimyo _never did anything without a reason. "All powerful, all knowing Shin Masaiya." That is what he called himself. Stealing the Thievius Raccoonus had a reason, and that most likely had to do with Rioichi. "Let us see what that is," Rioichi muttered, and began to walk.

Ekobean: I hope you liked this one as much as the last one. I'm pretty sure that it lives up to the former.


	3. A Close Call

Midnight Flight chapter 3 

Rioichi wasn't planning to navigate this maze by the rules. Even as he approached he saw the blue auras floating lazily around the tops of the maze walls.

Smiling, Rioichi vaulted off of the wall opposite to him and grabbed shakily onto the top of the maze wall. Groaning slightly, he heaved himself onto the top and balanced with his arms held outward on both sides. His masked eyes scanned slowly across the length of the room as he edged closer to the other side.

As soon as he reached the end of this wall he would have to stay as still as possible. One guard was coming from the left quickly with a search light in his hand. Rioichi sped up his movement and was at the end of the wall just as the guard passed.

Rioichi didn't even dare to breathe. He crouched down as low as he could. The guard passed him with out so much as looking at him. Sighing deeply, the raccoon leapt nimbly across the expanse to the next wall. It was becoming risky. One small slip-up and he would fall and give himself away for sure. Of all the techniques he couldn't master in the Thievius Raccoonus, it had to be the invisibility technique by his ancient Egyptian ancestor Slytenkamen Cooper.

If he possessed the invisibility technique, he would be able to walk through here without even worrying about guards.

_Clear thy mind and imagine thyself disappearing, becoming one with the air. _

_Only in this way will thou be invisible to the eyes of thy enemy._

That is what Slytenkamen had written in the Thievius Raccoonus. Rioichi had tried. Oh how he tried, but all he had managed to do was become transparent, only semi-visible. Surely he would be able to avoid the gaze of a half-asleep or dim-witted guard, but a fully awake and aware guard or enemy would notice a shadowy figure dart past. The alarm would be raised, and Rioichi would most definitely be caught over time.

Rioichi had reached the end of this wall. "A few more jumps," he thought, "and I will reach the stairway to the next level." However, Rioichi did not notice the guard sneaking up from behind him, that had been slowly stalking him the moment he had made the first jump, and that had turned out it's light.

Rioichi vaulted across the way, his attention focused solely on the next wall top. His eyes widened suddenly, his momentum shifted and his body twirled in midair as the katana grazed his arm.

Time seemed to slow as Rioichi spun in midair. He saw the shining polished blade of the katana flying past him, the very tip of it glistening with his own fresh blood. He hit the ground hard and lay there stunned for ten seconds before regaining consciousness. He shook his head as he shakily rose to his feet. He heard the whistles blaring throughout the entire room, heavy footsteps of the guards moving steadily toward him. Rioichi's trained ninja skills gave way to instinct for one minute.

Panic broke through the barrier erected by training, and he began to run. His breath came in short, quick gasps. He turned blindly in any direction. The guards were trying to trap him, he knew that. Slowly he regained control, forced himself to stop running. He found himself facing a brawny guard with both katanas drawn. Rioichi growled and vaulted over the guard, skillfully dodging the deadly swings of the dual blades.

He drew his canes in midair and bashed the guard over the head with both of them. The guard howled and fell where he stood. This did nothing for Rioichi, however. He was facing a dead end. The whistles were close, much too close. There was no way for him to escape, and there was no point in going to the top of the maze walls again. They would know where to look.

Rioichi knelt and, with no other alternative, began chanting the instructions of the invisibility technique over and over in his mind. _Become one with the air,_ he told himself desperately_, disappear!_

The guards stopped in front of him. He drew his canes, ready to fight to the last drop of blood leaked from his body. He looked up fearlessly at the hulking guards before him. They had stopped, were looking right at him, but their expressions were confused, muddled somehow.

Amazed, Rioichi looked down at his hand, only to find himself staring at nothing. He had done it. He had mastered the invisibility technique. Cautiously he crept around the guards and made his way to the exit, yet even as he did this he couldn't help but feel that his injured arm would provide a handicap, even if he was invisible...

Ekobean: I know, another shorter one. I couldn't help but feel that the quality of this one slipped a little. Tell me what you think.


	4. Trapped!

Ekobean: Ok, so Rioichi has sustained an injury and...well..you'll just have to read and find out.

_Midnight Flight chapter 4_

Rioichi reached the top of the staircase in fairly good time. Each flight of the aged stairs had a sticky cedar rail clinging to the sidewall. It surprised Rioichi that the _daimyo _would live in such an aged dwelling.

Rioichi leapt nimbly out of the doorway and landed in a crouched position, immediately activating the invisibility technique. He scanned the enormous room that he found himself in nervously. The room was square with dirty, chipped stone lining the twenty-foot walls. The room was extremely well lit, with oil lamps burning merrily on hooks leading all the way across the top of the ceiling. The bottom of the room was nothing less than horrifying.

A stone square platform about twenty feet across stood erected in the center of the room. It stood slightly over five feet tall and was covered with large, uneven white tiles. The tiles were broken and chipped, and worn with age.

As for the area around the platform, this was the part of the room that Rioichi found to be horrifying. The pit was filled halfway with uncountable bones. Most of them were white with every bit of meat stripped from them, but some of them were fresher with bits of rotting meat still clinging to them.

Rioichi was not afraid of death. Death was an honorable thing, and if someone died with honor they were an honorable creature. But these poor creatures' deaths had not been honorable. These were the people whom the _daimyo _had despised, and had tortured to death.

Many people did not mind torture, some reveled in it, loving to hear the screams of pain as the victim was slowly killed in the way the torturer saw fit. Rioichi despised torture. It took all the dignity and honor out of death. The victim died as a wretched creature, only a shell of it's former self. And now here their bodies were defiled, thrown in a small pit as decoration of sorts.

Rioichi shook his head and cleared the thoughts from his mind. This was obviously a trap to him, and if the _daimyo _expected him to leap down to the platform he did not know Rioichi very well.

Slowly and carefully he examined his surroundings, taking in every detail, every crack, every line, searching for the slightest twinkle of an aura.

At first the raccoon didn't spot them, but then on his third sweep of the room he spotted out of the corner of his eye one small blue spark dancing about the hook from which the first oil lantern was hanging. "How could I have missed it?" Rioichi thought to himself.

The raccoon launched himself off of the small stone balcony and caught the hook in midair with the tip of his cane. He immediately began pumping his legs to build up momentum, and then flew across to the next hook, and then the next, and the next.

He was halfway across the room; only five more hooks to go. He slowed time, increasing his chances of accuracy. However, just before his cane latched around the hook, his eyes widened in shock and horror. The hook had no blue auras floating about it. The cane latched around the hook, and Rioichi's momentum carried him forward, and he felt the hook give way.

Rioichi fell head first to the ground, concrete and rock particles and fragments falling with him. Rioichi tried to execute a midair flip to right himself, but it was executed too late. He landed on his back, the wind knocked out of him.

He immediately rolled onto his stomach and attempted to raise himself to his feet, still gasping, trying to reopen his lungs. Rioichi looked up at the doorway. It seemed to far away now, nearly impossible to reach.

His ears twitched suddenly, tuning into the sound of footsteps. Rioichi looked up at the doorway to find five burly guards emerging. Each of them leapt down from the doorway to the platform below, swords already drawn and ready.

Without hesitation Rioichi drew his canes and readied for the inevitable charge. Seconds passed, slowly turning to minutes. Sweat beaded on Rioichi's forehead. "What are they waiting for?"

And then suddenly his question was answered. An almost wavy voice drifted through room, it's source was coming from the doorway up above. The voice was high and rich, that of a man who's entire life had been spent around riches and power. There was no mistaking it. This was the voice of Shin Masaiya. "Kill him," it said, and then disappeared.

The guards roared, throwing their heads high, swords raised up and shaking. Then, without even the slightest hesitation, they charged, and Rioichi charged along with them.


	5. Ascension

Ekobean: Hah! I updated! So yeah, this is probably the second or third-to-last chapter. Yes this is going to be a really short fanfic, but it's my ode to Sly Cooper. Blah blah blah, enjoy.

Midnight Flight chapter 5 

The fight took every bit of training Rioichi had ever put himself through. He was young still, not shy of 22. His body was agile and flexible able to act in any way that his mind commanded. And that was lucky.

The golden canes in his hands were nothing more than flashing streaks as he threw back attack after attack. A contortionist would have dropped her jaw in awe in seeing the positions that Rioichi's black-cloaked form took.

Despite all the bashings, all the hits that the guards took from Rioichi's canes, they kept coming. Blows that should have left them staring into the abyss knocked them down for maybe a five seconds before they rose back up.

Rioichi was slowly tiring. It would not be long before one of them landed a lucky blow.

The guard swung his katana straight at Rioichi's head. The raccoon gasped and bent backward, hurling himself into the air. He flipped once, kicking the guard twice in the jaw. The guard grunted and fell onto his back.

Another guard tried to smash Rioichi in the ribs with the end of his katana handle. Rioichi leapt up and landed skillfully on the hilt of the sword (just like in all those stupid kung-fu movies you see...and that I don't watch). The guard stared bedazzled at Rioichi before he was knocked out cold by a double-blow to his forehead. "That's one," Rioichi thought desperately.

One guard's fist came out of nowhere. Rioichi had been careless for just one second, and this was the price. The guard railed him in the face. Rioichi was thrown backward several feet and lay sprawled on his back, momentarily stunned. The guards surrounded him in a flash.

Every one of them had a look of pure hatred on their faces, their bloodshot eyes burned with a victorious fire. Each of them raised their silver blades, slowly, almost as if hoping that the slow coming of his death would torment the thief in his mind. Rioichi's nest reaction was a gut reaction. The guard nearest to him was right in front of him, just inside the reach of his legs. Rioichi drew back his legs and fired them forward, delivering a nearly bone-splitting blow to his shins.

The guard howled and squatted, his previous intentions forgotten. This was his only chance. Rioichi sprang to his feet and vaulted over the crouched form of the incapacitated guard. Rioichi was invisible the moment he hit the ground, rolling on his side till he nearly rolled off the side and into the bones. He stood up triumphantly, his eyes glittering as he relished his cunning escape. All the guards were surrounding their fallen comrade. Rioichi could not catch what they were saying, but the odds were from the looks on their faces that it wasn't comforting.

The guards began turning their heads, looking for the mysteriously disappeared raccoon. "Good luck," Rioichi thought cockily. But then, all of a sudden, all the eyes slowly stopped at the ground and began working upward, and finally to his exact location. Rioichi looked down and gasped in shock. There was a light trail of blood from where he had landed and rolled.

The blood was from the wound on his shoulder.

Rioichi looked back up to see that the guards were all pointing arrows, all slotted into flexible bows, at his direction. The arrows fired as one, the polished tips whistling through the still air. Rioichi employed the slow-mo technique immediately. Again he forced his body to bend in nearly impossible positions. He flexed forward and backward, spinning in midair to avoid the deadly tips. He leaped into the air and arched to the side to avoid an arrow that had been shot at a downward angle, but it pierced his shoulder.

The activated slow mo made it look nearly as terrible as it felt. He clearly saw the tip pierce the soft sinews of his shoulder, watched even as he fell as the shaft sunk deeper and deeper, nearly to the red-feathered tip. Rioichi was pushed backward by the impact with the arrow, and he fell backward into the bones.

The firing of arrows did not cease. He pressed himself as far against the platform that he could to avoid the deadly rain. The arrows punctured every skull, backbone and hand that was there around him. Rioichi looked down at the deep sunken arrow at his shoulder. He knew he had to get it out, but the pain would be intense. Rioichi reached his good arm around his shoulder until he felt the bloody tip. He gingerly worked his fingers down the shaft until he had gotten as close as he could to the puncture wound. With one swift jerk he broke the tip off and cringed, his teeth clenched tight.

Not hesitating at all, he wrapped his hand around the feathered end and pulled, fighting against the urge to stop as the pain increased tenfold. It was all he could do to resist screaming. "Every one of those guards is going to encounter an early grave," he thought as the blood flowed freely from the wound and soaked into is black cloak. The arrow-fire was stopping, and he took this chance to grab about five unbroken arrows.

Blue auras danced lazily about the edge of the platform. Crouching as low as possible, Rioichi edged cautiously around the square platform. He chose his footing carefully. He couldn't afford to step on a skull or puncture his foot on a rib. He could hear the guards' voices now. They were speaking to each other. "Do you think we got him?" asked one.

"Why don't you go check." Suggested another.

"'Ey, I don't wanna lose my face to one o' them damned canes o' his," yet another growled.

"They're afraid," Rioichi thought, "good." At last he was just behind them. He put the arrows on the platform first, and then slowly hoisted himself up along with them. The guards were staring unblinking at the spot where they had launched nearly sixty arrows. With five arrows in his hands, one clutched like a dagger in his free one, he stalked up behind them. When he was about two feet behind the group he leaped upward and plunged two into the tops of the two nearest ones' heads.

He jumped on top of them just before they fell and threw two more, taking out the other two. Now just one was left. The guard had fled to the opposite side of the platform and had his bow drawn and ready. Rioichi could not throw a whole arrow, but he could throw a dagger. Rioichi had pocketed the four-inch-long tip that he had broken from his back. He drew it from his side pocket and threw it like a small knife.

The arrow tip was quick and did its job well. It pierced the guard's esophagus. The guard's eyes widened and he dropped his bow, clutching at his neck, hacking. There was another rumbling at the door above.

It was not the sound of footsteps, but the sound of something heavy being slid across the stone floor. A large stone block emerged from the doorway and dropped to the floor with a crash. Wasting no time, Rioichi sprinted to the block and jumped up onto it, and then off of it and up to the wooden platform in front of the door. "This is it," he thought to himself.

He did not look back at the slaughter he had caused. Four bodies lied scattered about the platform, lying in their own blood that trickled from their wounds.

The last guard, with his last bit of strength, drew his katana and cut himself across the belly, spilling his intestines onto the bloody platform. _Sepuku_, the ancient samurai tradition of killing one's self after failure, was the only way to regain his honor. And this he did.

Ekobean: I know, kinda sloppy. But I really enjoyed writing it, and I hope you enjoyed reading it.


	6. Encounter

Ekobean: So here's the second to last chapter. (exciting author note, eh?)

_Midnight Flight chapter 6_

Rioichi's shoulder had stopped bleeding for the most part. He had bound it thoroughly with a piece of his cloak that he'd ripped off. The blood-soaked fabric felt warm and wet, and made Rioichi feel sick to some extent, but he shut it out as best he could. He was focusing on only one thing: The _daimyo. _

The winding, wooden staircase was shorter than the previous two. Rioichi didn't bother with stealth as he had previously, Masaiya obviously knew that Rioichi had survived, or else he wouldn't have pushed the block down.

The staircase ended abruptly at an empty door frame. The room beyond was small and resembled the insides of storage shacks. This mildly surprised Rioichi. _Daimyo_s usually lived a life of luxury, yet Masaiya was living in a ramshackle room lined with small burning candles and weapons. Large, square rafters were wedged between the walls of the hut only fifteen feet above his head.

Rioichi had stolen from the _daimyo_ many times before. The surroundings had been fine and polished, worthy of the kings out to the west. But those had been in the _daimyo's _smaller palaces, ones that he would stay in while traveling. This was his main palace, and it barely made sense that he would live in such crude surroundings.

One thing immediately caught Rioichi's eye as he entered the room. Several candles burned about a small golden stand that stood at the end of the room. Upon the stand sat the leather bound book of the Cooper clan, the Thievius Raccoonus.

Rioichi looked around cautiously, and then applied the invisibility technique. Slowly, ever so slowly he tiptoed toward the book. Sweat soaked his brow, his hands were almost too slippery to hold his quivering canes. Half way across the room, Rioichi stopped.

A drawling, wavy voice penetrated the stillness of the air. "Ah, at last you have made it, Rioichi-san. You may show yourself, raccoon. I already know you are there."

Rioichi sighed and allowed himself to appear. The voice was coming from the rafters. On the rafter right above the Thievius Raccoonus was a small, shadowy figure. It was wrapped in a dark robe, making it nearly impossible to see. Had Rioichi been more patient, he would have spotted it in the first place.

The shape began to move, and it flipped down from the rafters and landed gracefully on its feet. A long, red tail waved lazily out behind the long robes. "It is nice to see you again, Masaiya-sama," Rioichi hissed acidly.

"I must say, Rioichi-san, that I expected more from you. You usually make off with all of my other treasures without a scratch. Why so different this time? Is it because the usual case has been reversed? That it is _I_ that has stolen from _you?_"

"Why did you take the book, weasel? Of all the things you could have taken from my hideout, you took the one thing that I care about!"

"Because I wanted to show you what it is like to have something dear to you snatched away."

"What is this, _daimyo_? Revenge? Did you take the book because, shall we say, I hurt you so you're hurting me back? I never thought you could be so childish."

"Embarrassing as it is, that was my original intention. When my guards saw your tail slip into the hollow of the park tree, I saw an opportunity. When it was confirmed that you were away, I made my move. I must say that you possess quite the collection of treasures raccoon. I had my pick, I could have taken any of them. But I wanted to take something that would strike a nerve, that would drive you to the brink of madness. And that's when I found your precious Thievius Raccoonus.

"I had heard tales of the great book, handed down for generations by the Cooper clan. And that's when a new idea crept into my mind. Show the world that without the book, the Coopers were not as great as everyone else made them out to be. I believe," Masaiya gestured with his hand toward the Thievius Raccoonus, "that without this book, the Cooper line is next to nothing."

"That is not true," replied Rioichi in an almost sagely manner, "the Thievius Raccoonus does not create great thieves, great thieves create the Thievius Raccoonus."

"Ah yes, of course," chuckled the _daimyo_, "but you must admit that the book does help. Reading the book made that quite clear to me."

"You _read _it!?" Rioichi cried out.

"Of course I did you fool! How could I not? All the techniques, the power, the skills of the ancient Cooper family in my hands? Of course I read it! And now that I have, I also have come to realize the full opportunity I have here. Imagine it, raccoon, an army of samurai, all whose eyes have traveled across the pages of the Thievius Raccoonus, all with this power. Why, with that power, we could overtake the world! And to think that your family has so selfishly kept it to themselves for centuries!"

"I will not allow you to do that!" exclaimed Rioichi, instantly drawing his canes from his back.

"You challenge me?" cried Masaiya boastfully. The _daimyo _reached back and drew one long, shining katana from his back, and then threw his robe aside. His body was thin and wiry. His needle sharp teeth were born. Without a second warning the _daimyo_ dashed at Rioichi.


	7. Opposites Coverge

Ekobean: This is probably going to be the last chapter. Or not. I don't know at this point, I really don't have the order planned out.

**Thanks to Red Hawk K'sani, Dark Eco Freak and Shady Fetish for their reviews. More please!**

_Midnight Flight chapter 7_

Rioichi somersaulted immediately to the right. There was a powerful gust of air that rushed through his fur from the _daimyo's_ passing. Rioichi slid across the dry floor planks of the room, previously undisturbed dust kicking up into the air.

Masaiya stood with his back to Rioichi, his tail twitching in an almost serpentine motion. He turned toward the waiting raccoon and smiled a toothy grin. "I must say that I am impressed," he stated matter-of-factly, "many other thieves have tried to steal from me, and I have impaled them with that very attack. The Thievius Raccoonus has indeed gifted you with great abilities. But it has given them to me too." The _daimyo_ curled himself into a ball and rolled top speed at Rioichi.

_The Raccoon Escape-Roll!_ Thought Rioichi as he heaved himself over the_ daimyo's_ fast attack. Masaiya righted himself in a heartbeat and drew his katana. Rioichi held his position, his canes raised in a defensive pose; one held firm out in front of him, and the other high above his head for a quick attack.

Masaiya knelt, ready to spring at any moment. His shining katana rested an inch from his face, the point held steady outward. His pale, venomous eyes were closed to mere slits, the red pupils glowing in the center of the alabaster.

The _daimyo_ charged forward. In a split second he was halfway across the room. But Rioichi was not slow either. He reacted just as fast, his canes meeting the weasel's lightning-fast sword strike in midair. The weapons were mere flashes of silver and gold, meeting in midair only to part and meet again in another area. Rioichi deflected one of the _daimyo's_ swings, and with the other cane rammed him in the solar plexus. Masaiya bent for an instant, only to have his jaw met with a sharp blow to the jaw with the other cane.

The _daimyo_ looked up at Rioichi with pure hatred running through his eyes. He wiped a string of saliva that had escaped between his teeth from his mouth and retaliated furiously.

The normal silence of the room was shattered like fragile glass. Sharp clangs of metal-against-metal echoed through the small room, and escaped through small cracks in the wood.

Though their skills in the ancient arts of war were equally unparalleled, Rioichi was slowly being pushed backward toward the wall. The _daimyo's_ natural agility and flexibility served him well. He was able to dodge the sword swings in almost unnatural movements. He bent backward and forward almost snakelike.

This natural ability, along with Rioichi's wound, built up slowly against the raccoon into increasing odds.

Grimacing, sweat pouring down Rioichi's brow, the raccoon began to believe that this may actually be the end. His defensive blocks began to slow, while Masaiya's remained at the same, rapid pace. Rioichi bumped into something. He could tell just by feeling it that it was one of the large, wooden pillars that held the room up. Even as he fought a simple yet desperate plan began to form in the back of Rioichi's mind. He had to choose his moment carefully. The slightest mistake could mean instant death at the hands of the _daimyo._

Finally the perfect moment came. Masaiya had raised his sword with both hands, preparing to attack with a sideways slash. This split second was Rioichi's moment.

Rioichi spun around the pillar and dived forward, making a beeline for the Thievius Raccoonus. He heard the sound of hot Japanese steel slicing through age-old wood, followed by the collapse of the pillar. Quick footsteps pounded after Rioichi, gaining quickly. It was going to be close.

Rioichi came to a screeching halt, kicking up another cloud of heavy floor dust. He snatched the sacred book from its golden pedestal and made for the window, not even looking behind him. The window frame was covered with a thin layer of paper, as were all windows in Japan. From observing the structure from below, Rioichi had discovered that the very same rope he'd used to enter the palace could be used for an escape. If he was correct this window lined up almost perfectly.

If he could direct himself in midair he would probably be able to catch the rope without too much trouble. He dove through the thin paper of the window, somersaulting along the heavily shingled roof of the palace. He was free! He straightened himself in midair and dove head first. "Another day, Masaiya-sama!" he hooted.

"Not this time, Cooper!!" echoed and angry scream. A clawed hand squeezed about his ringed tail.

"No!"

Rioichi's momentum meant nothing in this moment. The laws of physics were reversed somehow. Maybe it was the power of the Thievius Raccoonus, maybe it was the _daimyo's_ rage, but whatever it was, it was horrifying.

He was swung backward and nailed headfirst into the palace and slumped with the _daimyo_ baring savagely over him.

Ekobean: Nope, not the last chapter, but the next one is. Promise!


	8. Wings of the Nights

Ekobean: AT LONG LAST!!! CHAPTER EIGHT!!! Muhuhuhuhuhu.....

_Midnight Flight chapter eight_

The following moments were blurry to Rioichi. He could feel himself being dragged along the palace's roof. The clay shingles make sharp _clank_s as his canes fell upon them.

His consciousness returned to him a minute later. His vision cleared, and he shook his head to clear it fully.

This is where he found himself. He was dangling clear off the edge of the roof, one leg hanging useless to the side. Rioichi gasped and looked about frantically. That's when he spotted the _daimyo. _

The look on the _daimyo's_ face was worse that Rioichi had ever seen. Masaiya was holding Rioichi over the side by one leg, his hand wrapped firmly around Rioichi's left ankle.

"You did not truly believe that I would allow you to escape so easily," laughed Masaiya, "did you, Rioichi-san?"

"As a matter of fact..." Rioichi began.

"Enough," the _daimyo_ hissed, his snakelike tongue curving outward between his needle-sharp teeth, "your time in this world ended a long time ago."

"Then why am I still here?" Rioichi retorted, his masked eyes shrinking to mere slits.

"That is a very good question." Without allowing Rioichi to speak again, Masaiya released his hold on the raccoon. But even from the moment he let go, Rioichi was already flipping backward in midair, his cane's held tightly for the one-shot plan he had been thinking through as he and the _daimyo _spoke.

Rioichi threw out his cane, away toward the _daimyo's _shin. Even as he fell, he heard the satisfying "crack" of metal on bone. The raccoon's aim was keen. Rioichi had struck one of the many pressure points of the body. Putting pressure on any of these pressure points resulted in the body going limp, not to mention extreme pain. And Masaiya, in his arrogance, had not realized that during their whole talk, Rioichi had been staring at his shin the entire time.

The _daimyo's_ body buckled just as Rioichi had planned. A high-pitched scream ran through his mouth. He fell forward, sliding down the smooth shingles of the rooftop, before going into a free fall. Rioichi was watching him. He took in every detail of his fall, his limbs flailing useless, his head turning in every direction, desperately searching for some means of stopping himself.

But this lead Rioichi to the flaw in his plan. _He_ had to find some means of stopping_ himself. _Panic slowly began to rise in his throat. He look about wildly, desperately. A small sparkle caught his eye. Blue auras were floating around the very same cable he had entered from.

He would have only one shot at landing on it. Otherwise he would become another stain on the palace grounds.

The cable was close now. So close...

"Spire Jump!!" he screamed. He closed his eyes tight and spun in midair. The moment his feet clamped around the top of the oil lamp his heart leapt. He was free! He was alive!

The _daimyo_ fell past him just seconds later. Rioichi watched him fall, but turned is head away, eyes shut tight, just before the weasel hit the ground.

But there was nothing to stop the sound. The sound of bones snapping and popping apart, the "squelch" of bodily fluids contracting as his body made contact with the hard, brick cobblestones of the palace. Rioichi's other cane fell by just seconds later, the gold gleaming in the beauty of the now rising sun. He saw it land on a distant rooftop. He would have to get it before the resident got any ideas.

Nearly five guards were gathered around Masaiya's crumpled form. With the distraction of Masaiya's body, the would not notice the lights sway slightly. With a number of spire jumps, he landed on the safe rooftop. Without a second look back at the grisly scene behind him, Rioichi leapt off of the roof and on to the next. A poor artist, who had been awakened by the commotion, was looking out his window just in time to see Rioichi drop to the next rooftop. With this image burned into his mind, the artist began working tirelessly on a copy of this vision. This picture would appear on wanted posters across Japan, and would later find its way into the case file of one Inspector Carmelita Montoya Fox.

But there was one other thing that the artist had captured, though he didn't think much of it. A large birdlike figure silhouetted against the setting moon. This bird's name was Clockerwerk.

Clockwerk was watching Rioichi bound across the rooftops, away from the crime scene. His flashing eyes then turned the lights of gathering guards around the _daimyo's_ body. Clockwerk shook his metallic head and sighed. "Very good, Cooper, very good." Without another word, the mechanical owl flew off on silent wings into the darkness.

THE END


End file.
